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325041
Factors associated with mothers who intended to breastfeed but did not exclusively breastfeed using data from the West Virginia Birth Score Project


Sunday, November 1, 2015

Amna Umer, BDS, MPH, School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
Candice Hamilton, MPH, Department of Pediatrics, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
Collin John, MD, MPH, Department of Pediatrics, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
Sanjay Mitra, MD, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
Christa Lilly, PhD, School of Public Health, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
Introduction: West Virginia has one of the lowest breastfeeding initiation rates in the nation, 59% compared to 79% nationally. Data shows that maternal intent to breastfeed is a strong predictor of actual breastfeeding practices. The main objective of this study was to examine factors associated with mothers who intended to breastfeed but did not breastfeed, compared to mothers who intended to breastfeed and were successful before hospital discharge.

Methods: The study used current data from the WV Birth Score Project (2014-2015) for a total of 5367 births. Logistic regression analysis was used to predict the odds of not breastfeeding among mothers who intended to breastfeed compared to those who breastfed exclusively and also intended to do so.

Results: Among the 5367 births in WV, 2868 (53.5%) of the mothers intended to exclusively breastfeed and only 1755 (32.7%) were successful. Among those who intended to exclusively breastfeed only 60% actually breastfed. Results showed that mothers who were less educated, had Medicaid, who smoked, whose infants had low birth-weight (<2500g), and whose infants were admitted to the NICU had higher odds of not breastfeeding exclusively compared to those who intended to exclusively breastfeed and were successful.

Conclusion: Our study shows that nearly one third of the mothers in WV exclusively breastfed their infant before hospital discharge, although more than half of the women intended to breastfeed. In order to improve the breastfeeding rates in WV, it is important to understand the factors associated with mothers who intended to breastfeed but did not.

Learning Areas:

Epidemiology
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related nursing
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the factors associated with mothers who intend to exclusively breastfeed but are not successful.

Keyword(s): Breastfeeding, Maternal and Child Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been the Program Coordinator for the West Virginia Birth Score Project for the past six years. My main focus of research is maternal and infant health, specifically focusing on breastfeeding practices in WV birth hospitals.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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